Creating a homeschool high school transcript

Today I worked on my son's high-school transcript so I thought I would share some websites to maybe help someone else to complete their own high-school transcript.

I downloaded a sample transcript from Donna Young's website. http://donnayoung.org/forms/planners/hs-transcript.htm
Since it is in Microsoft Word you are able to erase the sample and place your students information creating your own personal transcript. You can also redesign it if you are familiar with using Microsoft word. Also at the bottom of the transcript it explains how many hours are needed to give a credit for a course.

I also wanted to share the website I use to generate my students GPA score.You can use grade or percent to calculate the GPA. The first column you type in grade or percent.The second column you type if its a full credit or half credit course. You can add more classes at the top or click on the red x to remove extra blank spaces for classes. Here is the website GPA Calculator.

We live in Pennsylvania so know your state requirements. This is the high-school graduation requirements for PA. www.pacode.com .

Finally in the state of PA homeschool diplomas issued by the parents are legal.So I just purchase my high-school diplomas from Homeschool Legal Defense. HSLDA personalized high-school diplomas

My oldest son is applying for the unions and we have found they require a copy of his high-school diplomas so that is the reason we purchased him one.

I hope this helps.

Baby Dropped ~ What does that mean?

     Yesterday my sisters in Christ surprised me with a baby shower!1 I feel so blessed . I will post more about the shower which they called a sprinkling but it was more than that. I am so excited for this baby and we are now ready thanks to the Lord supplying our needs through these wonderful ladies. I can't wait to share pictures :)
 
  Today I went to my 34 week appointment. Praise the Lord everything is going well. Last Wed. my baby dropped. I could feel the pressure especially when walking. This is routine for me so I won't get excited that it means he is coming soon. He still needs to grow some before he comes anyway. My last several babies have dropped at 34 weeks leaving me to waddle like a duck for 6 weeks before they come in to the world. I normally go full term almost to my due date at 40 weeks.

I enjoy anatomy so I thought I would post to show what does it mean for a baby to drop.

As you can see it is not very comfortable for mom.  Caleb is only 34 weeks but he is gaining weight by the week so as he the weight will cause even more pressure because of his weight gain until he is born.

 The doctor confirmed today he has dropped so waddling like a penguin I will have to accept for the next 6 weeks. If you look at the diagram below you will see than can drop from -3 to 0. When you are in labor they go past 0 and they began to go through the pelvis. I am looking forward meeting this little active baby boy.

Manhood tradition...1rst gun ~* Daniel & Ruger

Today Daniel, Angelo, and my hubby went hunting for the seasons youth hunt with friends and their dog. Angelo just came for fun as he is too young to hunt, he is under 12. Ruger flushed out his first pheasant which Daniel was able to shoot. Daniel also shot two wood cocks. 

He just got his first gun this Thursday. We have a family tradition when the boys turn 13 they get their first gun as a symbol of entering manhood. They are the spiritual leaders of the home, protectors, and providers so my hubby choose this to be a special gift to remind them of this God given role.

Daniel's birthday was back in April. He has patiently waited since then to get his gun. We have had things come up like vehicle expenses, medical, etc. that has postponed him getting his gun. Praise the Lord we were able to purchase Daniel's gun this week when youth hunting began! 

Waiting I believe has been a good learning experience for Daniel because as a man he will need to make priority choices in life. He showed patience and understanding even though he was excited wanting his first gun as he lives for hunting. He was so grateful when he got it and it was worth the wait. He loves his gun and enjoyed getting to use it today with his buddy ,our pup Ruger, who has just began hunting and learning what it is all about. 

Math U See , Unit Test ~mastering math

   Today Nehemiah took his Math test at the end of his lesson. He missed both review problems concerning rounding off numbers to the nearest ten. This was the same lesson we spent 2 weeks on mastering early. So today it was obvious he didn't master this lesson. Math U See is a mastery program but it also has review and a unit test after so many lessons to check and make sure they mastered the lessons they have learned.
   So I went back to the Math U See website and printed off some rounding to 10 worksheets that we will do all week. Since he loves video games I think I will find an online Math game to also help practice.

 Here he is working on the worksheets & a sample of his completed work sheet. I will continue working with him and keeping an eye on him mastering this concept.

 He completed his unit test and got all of the rounding off problems  right.I know he just reviewed this information from missing the problems on the last lesson test so I really won't count this as mastering this skill. The beauty of homeschooling is knowing your child by personally working with them and using the tests as a tool. If I just went by the test it would appear he mastered the skill but as his mom checking his math everyday and knowing his struggles I am able to keep mentoring him in mastering his weak areas. He passed everything else in the unit test so I won't hold him back but add rounding to the nearest ten to our current lessons .

Since he is done with the unit test. I will remove all the extra worksheets on the back of his folder and place them in a separate folder to make room for new extra worksheets for the next unit.
                                   I am loving Math U See!!
  We used Teaching Textbooks for years and I found so many wholes in their Math using the spiral method teaching math that I have found teaching math with the mastery approach is the best way for my family to learn math.

A Measuring Scale For Ability in Spelling by Leonard Ayers a tool for McGuffey readers & dictation / narration work

This is a spelling assessment handbook to teach the most commonly used words. I came across this book on my journey searching for how to use the McGuffey readers. You can use it to test your student to find out what grade level they are in but that is a small part of this book. I am not concerned at what grade level they are in but want to improve their spelling from where they are and improving their writing by focusing on the most common used words .

  The beginning of this book goes in to details of all the different studies and research in creating this list so its not just a list of words that one person came up with. It originally was to compare phonetic verses sight words method of learning to read. The studies have been done in 250 cities.

 The beauty of this book is it has the the most common used 1,000 words in the English language used in writing. 

  Here is how the lists are broken down most common words we write:

• 1rst 50 words = 1/2 of the words 
• 1rst 300 words = more than 3/4 of  the words
• complete 1,000 words= 9/10 of the words 

 As you can see this tool can be very handy when choosing what words to learn to spell in checking their dictation and narration work. 

Click here to purchase on Amazon

Here is an example of the first 50 words.

Here is an example of at the end of the week after I check their dictation work choosing words to work on for the next week. I don't have them do all of their misspelled words but use the word list to help pick and choose. I also will use my Spelling chart as I mentioned in another post if I see a spelling rule that needs worked on. This tool however is great for getting your students to write the most common words used in their writing assignments.

As you can see I did not choose the word sty. It is not a word they will use as often as the word one.

~* This is another tool I have found useful in my homeschool toolbox that I wanted to share.*~

So what does eclectic mean anyway? MGuffey Eclectic Readers

So what does eclectic mean anyway? Why are the McGuffey readers called eclectic readers? 

         The title word Eclectic means that the stories and rhymes were culled from a wide range of literature. Thus the selections in the McGuffey readers include poetry and prose selections about history, philosophy, and science. This is why the books are titled MGuffey Eclectic Readers. William Holmes McGuffey (September 23, 1800 – May 4, 1873) was not the author (actually writing literature) of the eclectic readers but compiled great literature works to create the eclectic readers. This is important to understand as there are different versions of the McGuffey Eclectic Readers.

    Why is this important to understand? Since  I am a Christian I want my children to use the editions he personally put together. He was a man of God and a  minister in the Presbyterian Church. I will talk more about him as a man of God in another post but his love for the Lord comes through in the literature and poems he choose to include in the eclectic readers. Being an educated man and a professor he also choose great works of literature with rich vocabulary encouraging the students heart to Christ and character. When you study who he was as a man you will notice this shine  through in his work that he personally put together the McGuffey Readers.

  I will also post more in the future  about the different editions looking at why and who changed McGuffey's literature choices. Sadly, some of the later editions were to remove God from these great collections and the thought continues today in our education system. This is the reason we continue to homeschool and why I have chosen certain MGuffey editions to use in our homeschool verses others. 

 Below I have gathered some definitions and explanations by others concerning what eclectic means. 

ec·lec·tic

iˈklektik/

adjective

1. 1.

   deriving ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources.

   "her musical tastes are eclectic"

   synonyms:

   wide-ranging, broad-based, extensive,comprehensive, encyclopedic; More

2. 2.

   PHILOSOPHY

   of, denoting, or belonging to a class of ancient philosophers who did not belong to or found any recognized school of thought but selected such doctrines as they wished from various schools.

noun

1. 1.

   a person who derives ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of source

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listed below are some responses from from Yahoo answers.

Eclectic means choosing what seems to be best or most useful from several different sets of ideas or beliefs, rather than following one complete set of ideas or beliefs only. Example - Tagore's philosophy drew upon an eclectic mixture of both Western and Asian thought.

Other Answers (8)

Relevance

• Serendipity answered 8 years ago

  From dictionary.com:
  1. selecting or choosing from various sources.
  2. made up of what is selected from different sources.
  3. not following any one system, as of philosophy, medicine, etc., but selecting and using what are considered the best elements of all systems.
  4. noting or pertaining to works of architecture, decoration, landscaping, etc., produced by a certain person or during a certain period, that derive from a wide range of historic styles, the style in each instance often being chosen for its fancied appropriateness to local tradition, local geography, the purpose to be served, or the cultural background of the client.
  
  
  It's used in this kind of sentence - "She used eclectic taste in decorating her home" meaning that she picked from various styles and color schemes rather than following one. 

  
  
• sweet p answered 8 years ago

  Main Entry: 1eclec·tic
  Pronunciation: e-'klek-tik, i-
  Function: adjective
  Etymology: Greek eklektikos, from eklegein to select, from ex- out + legein to gather -- more at LEGEND
  1 : selecting what appears to be best in various doctrines, methods, or styles
  2 : composed of elements drawn from various sources; also : HETEROGENEOUS

Wecome Fall & Candles !!

I love fall ! It is my favorite time of year. I love: the cooler weather, colorful leaves, open windows, wind, football, sweaters, Ugg boots, hot drinks, mugs, warm fires, harvest celebrations, pumpkins, fall flowers, candles , soup, and even school time. 

One of the things we all enjoy is the smell of candles burning in the house. There are so many wonderful smelling candles but I love the cinnamon or cinnamon apple scent. It just has a fall smell to me and the red matches my schoolhouses & saltbox houses I have in my school room. So every morning I grab my cup of hot tea (pregnancy herbal tea) and light my candles. Since Titus is an active toddler who wants to blow out my candles I have them placed were either he can't reach them or close to me at my desk. 

  I sit next to the workboxes & my check box so I can check the kids work in between working with one of my kiddos. My fall and winter treat is the smell and the glow of the candles! Do you enjoy candles ? If so what are your favorite scents or brand of candles?  I just love the autumn  colors and warm smells!! Happy Fall !!!

125 mile bicycle ride weekend trip

 My two sons Joe & Daniel did a 125 mile bicycle ride from Maryland to home in PA this weekend with friends (our church family) .They camped outside along the bike trail and took time to swim in the river that was along the bike trail. We are thankful for the Godly examples they have in their lives and memories they are making that will last a life time. We are blessed to be apart of a church family that is truly family and friends.
 We are also blessed as a family of many boys to be in a church where men lead and are examples, challenging our sons to be men of God.

WEC week 2 fall 2014

Using Reference Charts for Dictation or Narration ~McGuffey Readers as an Example

  We completed our dictation at the end of our week's lesson. After they are done with the dictation I check it with the student and go over the mistakes comparing it to the original. I posted yesterday examples of the reference charts and where to purchase.
   Punctuation & Capitalization ~* One of the things Job missed was his punctuation. Placing commas in a series of words. So I pulled out the Language Arts reference chart for 3-4 graders since he is in 4rth grade and we go over the punctuation rule. I then write on a post it note the spelling words and punctuation rules for next week for him to master. We will continue until he masters these topics. My Jr. High / Highschool students cover these rules daily using Easy Grammar.
      Choosing what to work on for the next week ~* I only choose 5-10 spelling words a week and choose the most important words for them to learn. If they have multiple punctuation or capitalization errors I only choose one to focus on. We will have plenty of time to cover the other rules. My goal its master one at a time. My kids do better learning through mastery.

 Here is an example of Angelo using the 5/6 grade Language Arts reference Chart. He did not capitalize words in his title. So that is what I will look for each week in his dictation until he masters that rule. He did remember the rule we learned at the beginning of the week using a comma  following a name.

Spelling ~* I list all we need to work on the post it note for next weeks lesson. After I choose the spelling words I look to see what spelling rules they need to work on. I grab my spelling reference chart and mark the rules we are going to work on all next week.
Here is a picture of my post it note. I have them look at the spelling word daily, close their eyes to see the word , then orally spell the word. We do this each day along with discussing the spelling rule. One day a week they may write the words 3 times or so for extra practice.

I own Christ Centered Phonics cards that have spelling rules on the back of the card. click here to if interested in the Christ Centered Phonics cards.I use these for Nehemiah since he is in 2nd grade for his spelling or if I notice he needs to tackle a phonogram in his reading.

Phonics/Reading ~* The Logic of English phonogram chart is great to use if they are reading out loud and you notice they are struggling with a certain phonogram. I mark it down and note it on the post it note.

Here is an example of the spelling rule under phonics application. You can use whatever tools you have with your child's dictation lessons.

Parts of Speech ~* We use Easy Grammar lessons to teach the parts of speech so I don't cover that with the McGuffey readers. It is taught separately.

   Since I posted the reference charts I use yesterday I thought I would share how I use them.
  You don't have to use them for just McGuffey readers but any type of dictation or narration work you are doing. I plan on posting how you can use this for your narration work in the history notebooking.

Homeschool Helps~ Reference Charts

I love reference charts!!! Instead of grabbing a text book for a quick reference I have these handy charts to use when needed.I can use them when we do our McGruffey Readers,  history / Science notebooking, math, writing, spelling, reading, etc. So I wanted to share these helpful charts with you and give links to were they can be purchased.

Here are examples of the grammar charts. They  are well organized which I love to make it easy to use.

I purchased these laminated charts from Christian Light Publications at 

click here for CLE Language Arts and Math charts

I also like the Logic of English chart for spelling rules & phonograms. You can purchase this chart from CBD.

Click here for Logic off English spelling & phonogram chart

 These handy Math Reference Charts can also be purchased from Christian Light Publications click on the link above.

I received this for free from a homeschooling Facebook party :) I have been wanting this chart for writing so I was so happy to get it for free. It is great for taking you step by step in the writing process. It also gives you dress up tools to change the writing assignment from ordinary to extraordinary! You can purchase these at Institute for Excellence in Writing.

 Click here for IEW portable wall writing chart

Doing school outside while studying Apologia Botany & Mystery of History!

I love fall weather! One of the things I enjoy is doing school outside. We finish our language arts & math inside and after lunch we go outside to do Science & History. My daughter who is reading the current read out loud also enjoys reading outside under a tree. That is another bonus of the work boxes. We can pull our workbox drawers out and take them outside with us.

 My chicken Christy doing a photo bomb  :) A little excitement in school today when a hawk came down to try to take one of our chickens :/

Since we live in the north we are following the recommended northern schedule.So we went from lesson 2 seeds to lesson 6 leaves so we can studying them before the fall next month.

There is nothing better than to be surrounded by God's creation that we are studying compared to being inside working at a desk! As we were learning the benefits plants give us we were able to be grateful  that we are surrounded by His creation. After our lesson we also discussed how people are beginning to use artificial lawns or painting their lawns so it looks nice. What a sad thing to do to God's creation that was created to benefit us. We were thankful that He has blessed us with a yard full of trees and plants.
 I love to be in God's creation ! If you get a chance to go outside for  your classroom go for it. There is nothing like being surrounded by what you are studying while breathing in that fresh filtered and oxygen rich air from the plants He created!

Cleaning our Chicken Coop ~* Eglu Cube by Omlet

 It was beautiful outside today!! So I wanted to do a outside project. So I decided to do a quick cleaning of our Chicken Coop. My husband bought me this for my birthday, Anniversary, & mothers day all in one since it was not a cheap gift . I really wanted chickens for fresh eggs to feed our growing family. It has been a few years since we have had chickens. I did not want to go back to a wooden coop since they are so hard to clean. So he bought me a Eglu Cube which are made in England.
      Its Nehemiah chore to feed the and water the chickens. We have Plymoth Barred Rocks. They are my favorite I think they are beautiful.

 Everything comes out & opens up to clean. There are drainage vents. I just did a quick hose down since it was going to get cold tonight I wanted to make sure it could dry in the sun by night fall. Before winter I might power wash it or scrub it down good but for now I just wanted to spray it clean. It drys pretty fast.

 Here is what it looks like without the trays before I sprayed it clean.

 The Glug is the water dish. It comes with both a water dish and a food dish,

 The inside you can see the air vents & perches.The roof comes off and the back for easy cleaning.

 The poop trays pull out so you can easily clean it weekly and save the droppings for fertilizer.

 It also has an out door run. We move it as an easy way to clean the outside pen.It works great no matter where we put it in the yard they know that is where to roost at night.

The girls looking in at their new clean chicken coop. I love the green as it blends in to the yard. I originally was going to purchase pink or red but decided to go with something that will camouflage in the yard. They come in fun colors.

 That was my project for the day. It was a beautiful day and I was glad to be outside!!! I am loving these cooler fall days.
I purchased my Omlet from  www.omlet.us

Titus turned 3 !!!

Today Titus turned 3 :) He wanted Leo the Ninja Turtle for his birthday. We also got him a Ninja Turtle cake. He loved his Leo stuffed toy & action figures he got for his birthday,